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[Humbledore]

Hi,
Before MC 19 I was using the loudness mode when listening with low volume. With the introduction of the Adaptive Volume Night mode some wonderings has risen. As I understand both these modes have the ambition to be better when using low volume.

But how do they actually differ?
When is each of them supposed to be used or not?
Can you claim that one is better that the other considering audio/bit perfect?
Can you combine these two or is it too much of a good thing...?

Thanks!

[adamt]

I'll look into getting some documentation on the Wiki for adaptive volume and the modes as I think it would be useful to have.  In the mean time you could try a search here for "adaptive volume" and see what you find.  Anyone have any info regarding this?

[6233638]

Loudness is based on ISO 226:2003 equal loudness contours, and requires a fully calibrated system, which Media Center has volume control over.
So when Media Center's internal volume control is set to 100%, your system's volume level (measured via an SPL meter) must match the reference level of 83dB.

As you reduce the volume in Media Center, the equal loudness contours are applied so that the perceived frequency response does not change due to the reduced volume.
When calibrated with a reference of 83 dB at 100% volume, if you play this back at -20 dB (60% volume) the frequency response should closely match the 60 phon contour for example.


Adaptive Volume set to night mode applies dynamic range compression, which can make things like dialog easier to distinguish at lower volume levels, because the difference between the loudest and quietest sounds is much smaller. It will also reduce the volume of sudden loud noises like gunshots.

I don't think it would be advisable to combine the two.

[Humbledore]

6233638, thanks for your wide explanation! 
Can you say that one or other of the two is more or less bit perfect, in a strict sense?

[6233638]

Neither is "bit-perfect" because one applies an EQ curve, and the other compresses the dynamic range. I think people get too caught up about being bit-perfect though.
Loudness is more faithful to the source - it's simply trying to compensate for how we perceive sounds at different volumes, whereas dynamic range compression is often considered harmful to sound quality.

[Humbledore]

As I guessed then... I'll stick with Loudness mode for most of my 'night time listening'. Thanks! 

[mojave]

I use both when watching movies in my office during lunch hour. Loudness helps bring the bass and upper frequencies up at lower volumes and Night Mode prevents loud explosions from being so much louder than the main dialog that they are disturbing to my coworkers. This lets me listen to the dialog louder than I could without Night Mode. It also brings up some of the details that are hidden at a lower volume level. In my case, using both is much better than using either one by itself.